Chapter 204: Sprint

Chapter 204: Sprint

Although the Hall of Honesty held no concept of temperature at all, Klein felt an alternating chill and heat wash through him when he heard those words. He wanted to defend himself, but after opening his mouth, he had no idea what to say.

After silently meeting Adam’s clear eyes—eyes that seemed capable of reflecting his entire form—for several seconds, Klein spoke with some difficulty:

“I accept it…

“But afterward, I will also do my utmost to reduce the harm this war brings, so long as I remain alive.”

He paused, then asked in a low voice, “Is this the price you marked for your gift?

“After a certain ascetic here spoke your true name back then, you had already noticed this travelogue and secretly made arrangements?”

Adam, dressed in a simple white robe, gave no response. Step by step, He walked to the mural on the left and stopped before one of the paintings, slightly raising His head to quietly admire it.

On that mural, a parchment-bound book flew up into the clouds, entered the starry sky, and fell into a giant claw.

After watching for a while, Adam spoke gently:

“You may leave.”

Klein instantly felt himself rejected by the Hall of Honesty, the City of Miracles, and the book world’s sea of collective subconscious all at once. Beyond his control, he floated upward and was sent flying out.

During the process, he saw Adam return to the front of the rows of black seats. Holding the silver cross pendant, He closed His eyes and devoutly prayed to the immense, blurry figure.

Outside the sea of collective subconscious, an illusory door silently appeared, standing in midair and leading outward.

The book world also began rejecting Klein, squeezing him through that double door.

In an instant, Klein returned to the real world, back before the grayish-white fog, once again in the state of about to enter the gaps of history.

Unlike before, he was no longer locked onto by the vortex formed from countless transparent worms. Groselle’s Travels, which had been caught by nearly invisible slick tentacles, trembled lightly and vanished from thin air.

He had no time to feel heartache. Amid rapidly flashing thoughts, Klein made an almost instinctive choice.

He leaped into the gray-white fog from another direction, hiding inside a broken speck of light. This was the so-called historical void.

The next second, Klein began to regret it, because Zaratul’s slick, horrifying tentacles extended through the grayish-white fog. The countless transparent worms no longer formed a turning vortex. They collapsed into a tide and surged toward him at terrifying speed.

Zaratul could actually fight inside the gaps of history!

This was the suppression a high-ranking Beyonder of the same pathway held over a lower-ranking one.

Those best suited to deal with demigods of the Seer pathway would always be demigods of the same pathway at a higher Sequence.

Without hesitation, Klein “sprinted” through patch after patch of light, just as he had during advancement, fleeing toward the depths of the fog of history.

The collapse of the secret mausoleum, the air raid on Backlund, and the Great Smog flew backward one after another, yet the sense of danger in Klein’s heart did not weaken. Instead, it intensified considerably.

He even “saw” the thick shadow drawing nearer and beginning to cover him.

It was the tide made from transparent worms and slick tentacles!

Klein ran desperately, continuously reciting the Evernight Goddess’s honorific name in Jotun within his heart, hoping to receive aid. This was the only thing he had strength left to do, and she was the only existence currently capable of saving him.

Of course, if he had known Amon’s honorific name, he would certainly have tried to provoke that Blasphemer as well.

Only by muddying the waters would he have any chance of survival.

Roselle’s coronation, the improvement of the steam engine, the War of the Betrayed Oath, the White Rose War, and the Twenty Years’ War flashed past one after another. Klein discovered that more and more of his body was being “covered” by shadow. His thoughts grew slower and slower, giving him the sensation that his Spirit Body Threads were being manipulated.

At that moment, Fog Hounds rushed out from the various light fragments within the gray-white fog.

They were covered in short black fur, dark-red flames burning in their eye sockets, their mouths stretching all the way to the backs of their heads.

These monster-like guardians of Sefirah Castle overtook Klein and charged behind him.

Klein’s consciousness instantly recovered its clarity.

Shit! He cursed himself. His eyes slightly reddened, his vision blurred, and he continued “sprinting,” running from the Fifth Epoch to the Fourth Epoch, then from the Fourth Epoch to the Third.

Behind him, that enormous tide-like shadow paused briefly for several seconds, then continued surging toward Klein as if nothing had happened, drowning the historical gaps he had passed through.

Klein did not stint on spirituality at all. He risked everything as he used the light fragments he had illuminated to “run” through the fog of history, rushing from the Third Epoch to the Second, and finally into a solitary shard of light. Around him stood a withered, decaying forest and tombs of ordinary size.

This was the fragment of history in which Giant King Aumir buried his parents.

As for the tide formed from Zaratul’s true body, it seemed to lack sufficient understanding of these past events. It had stopped somewhere in some unknown age and failed to catch up.

At that moment, Klein’s spirituality was already nearly dried up. And while inside the fog of history, he could only borrow power from the gap he currently occupied. Clearly, there was no past version of himself here.

Once his spirituality was exhausted, he would have no choice but to leave the fog of history and return to the real world. At that time, he would once again face Zaratul directly.

Whew… Klein exhaled, drew out another paper crane, and snapped his fingers, igniting it.

However, after waiting several seconds, he still did not see the Snake of Fate Will Auceptin appear.

There’s no way to contact Will using an ordinary paper crane inside the historical void… Why hasn’t Amon appeared yet… As thoughts flashed through his mind, Klein could only once again recite in Jotun:

“Evernight Goddess, more exalted than the starry sky and more eternal than eternity; You are the Lady of Crimson, Mother of Concealment, Empress of Misfortune and Horror, Mistress of Repose and Silence…”

After sustaining himself for several more seconds, Klein suddenly received a flash of inspiration. Without hesitation, he broke away from the fog of history and returned to the real world.

The instant his figure was outlined, his Spirit Body Threads floated into the air, caught by a slick, translucent tentacle.

And opposite him, another figure appeared at the same time.

It was the ascetic leader Arianna, barefoot, wearing a linen robe.

Given Klein’s abilities, any angel-level historical projection he summoned would definitely have vanished by now, so this person was unquestionably the real body.

The abbess of the Evernight Cloister glanced at Klein, and in that instant made him disappear beneath Zaratul’s tentacles.

Klein had entered Arianna’s Concealed world. It existed under the night sky—a monastery with many ancient buildings, above which hung a huge, holy crimson moon.

Based on his past experience of cooperating with her, Klein immediately used Teleportation, flashing directly into that crimson moon and leaving the Concealed world from another location.

After returning to reality, Klein had already pulled some distance away from Zaratul. Without hesitation, he relied on Traveling and left directly, while Arianna, who had briefly blocked Zaratul, transformed into a Concealed state and withdrew from the battle.

Rumble!

A terrifying peal of thunder sounded. The transparent tentacles trying to probe toward the location where Klein had vanished abruptly retracted, then disappeared together with the main body.

After Teleporting to the sea, Klein had no time to borrow power from his past self. He immediately summoned a paper figurine from the gaps of history and shook his wrist.

Most of the items he carried had been destroyed when he transformed into “bookmarks.” His marionettes Qonas and Enyuni had also been lost somewhere. Of course, perhaps they had already evaporated under the illumination of the Light Angel.

Snap!

The paper figurine ignited with crimson flames and surged into an illusory angel with layer upon layer of wings on its back. It wrapped around Klein and erased his traces.

Then Klein activated Teleportation again and left the area.

…

At the secret mausoleum in East Chester County, William Augustus I and the Queen of Mysteries Bernadette simultaneously sensed George III’s fall—one through changes in order, the other through her own prophecy.

The latter did not stay. Her body suddenly separated like a cluster of soap bubbles refracting light, scattering in every direction and breaking one after another.

William Augustus I neither had the will to stop her nor the mood to pursue. Yet He did not appear that pained either.

…

Klein took an enormous detour, used Angel’s Embrace three times to erase his traces, and only then quietly returned to Backlund, which at the moment might be the safest place.

He did not return to the rented house from before. Instead, he went straight to the Backlund Bridge area, found a hotel, and opened a room.

Naturally, he did not forget to alter his appearance, height, bearing, and distinguishing traits to a certain extent.

He became even more ordinary, plain, and unremarkable.

After entering the room, Klein endured the exhaustion of his mind and the injuries to his body as he began reciting Sea God Kalvetua’s honorific name. He prepared to take four steps counterclockwise and go above the gray fog, using True Vision and a true Angel’s Embrace to confirm the environment and eliminate hidden dangers.

Thank goodness Zaratul should have signed a contract with George III and could not casually leave the mausoleum He was guarding. Otherwise, in that chaotic battle, I would most likely have become His marionette already… His and Abomination Suah’s appearances exceeded my expectations… Klein released a breath, took one step counterclockwise, opened his mouth, and began chanting in Chinese:

“Blessings stem from…”

Suddenly, Klein’s body trembled. His voice stopped abruptly, and his entire body stiffened in place.

In his vision, a figure had appeared at some unknown point on the chair beside the full-length mirror in the room. He was of medium build, a young man, wearing a dark jacket and wool trousers, of mixed Loen and Balam ancestry.

This was the marionette Klein had previously lost—the Winner Enyuni.

Facing Klein’s eyes, which could no longer turn, Enyuni smiled.

“Don’t throw marionettes around. They can be tracked.”

As he spoke, he slowly rose. Casually, he took a monocle made of crystal from his clothing pocket and slowly put it over his right eye.

(End of Volume 5)